Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

California's AIDS case rate and teen birth rate continued to decline between 2001 and 2003, according to a report released on Monday by the California Department of Health Services, the AP/San Jose Mercury News reports. The birth rate decreased from 48.6 births per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19 between 1998 and 2000 to 41.1 births per 1,000 girls in the same age group between 2001 and 2003, according to the County Health Status Profiles 2005 report. Over the same period, the AIDS case rate among people ages 13 and older living in California dropped from 17.8 cases per 100,000 people to 14.7 cases per 100,000 (AP/San Jose Mercury News, 4/4). The report also found that 77.7% of California women received adequate prenatal care between 2001 and 2003, compared with 75.8% between 1998 and 2000. In addition, the report found that 26 of California's 58 counties between 2001 and 2003 reported fewer than 20 cases of syphilis per 100,000 population -- which is a goal of the HHSHealthy People 2010 initiative -- with 24 counties reporting no cases of syphilis. The report -- which was produced by the state health department and the California Conference of Local Health Officers and released in conjunction with the 2005 California Public Health Week, which lasts from April 4 to April 10 -- is based on data collected from 2000 to 2003 and includes health status indicators recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (DHS release, 4/4). State Public Health Officer Dr. Richard Jackson in a statement said, "While this report shows that there has definitely been improvement, it also shows that work remains to be done" (AP/San Jose Mercury News, 4/4).

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